I tried to post this video in my last blog, but couldn't get it to work. So I am attempting to post it all on its own here. I is a good sampling of how crowded some areas can get.
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Monday, February 27, 2012
Six Hour Walk around Guangzhou, China
So Greg, my husband, loves to walk whenever the opportunity presents itself. Especially when it is somewhere new. So, of course soon after our arrival in
Guangzhou, we took, what started out as a stroll, and ended up as a rather long exploration.
Just a typical shopping area, this one dedicated to "electronics."
There are many, many stores like this one, that line the sidewalks.
At this point we were trying to find our bank to withdraw some "yuans" or "Renminbis." It's important to keep cash on hand because most transactions are cash and rarely are credit cards accepted.
Candid picture walking down the sidewalk.
During the new year season these plants with non-edible oranges are ubiquitous. They are used like Christmas trees almost.
Bikes are also common and they usually have baskets. No motorcycles are allowed. I understand they were banned a while ago, but I'm not exactly sure what the reason was, although I have heard different theories. You will often see people using electric bikes though.
Nice flowers.
This was an an interesting little road we found just off of the main road. We were walking along.
I did get permission to take this man's picture. He was hard at work sewing and only stopped when I took the picture. There were a few spaces like this right in a row.
New year decorations mixed with a white Santa?
Candid shot walking around.
Cool looking sculpture.
I captured this shot of a little Chinese child. I've often seen the small children dressed with lots of padding--so incredibly cute!
Its not a famous landmark, just a cool one.
This picture was taken from a walkway while crossing above the road. I went to look for some rubbing alcohol at a pharmacy. It took me about 10 minutes of playing charades to help the employees figure out what I needed. There are a lot of really helpful, nice Chinese people here.
By this time we had probably walked about five hours, and we were not sure where we were. But I saw this bridge and the lights looked beautiful.
We wandered through the streets not exactly sure where we were and getting tired at this point. Greg was definitely more energetic than I was, so we ventured on.
More pretty light.
We stopped at McDonalds for dinner. It's okay, because it's in
China, which makes it special. Not the same experience in the
U.S., where its just another fast food restaurant.
In the following video you will get a little glimpse of an area we were walking through and how ridiculously crowded it was. We were at a standstill as we walked because of the congestion.
So, approximately six hours later, and after I persuaded Greg, he and I were able to flag down a cab to take us home. Whew! It was fun, but I was just so happy to be off my feet.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Guangzhou, we took, what started out as a stroll, and ended up as a rather long exploration.
Just a typical shopping area, this one dedicated to "electronics."
There are many, many stores like this one, that line the sidewalks.
At this point we were trying to find our bank to withdraw some "yuans" or "Renminbis." It's important to keep cash on hand because most transactions are cash and rarely are credit cards accepted.
Candid picture walking down the sidewalk.
During the new year season these plants with non-edible oranges are ubiquitous. They are used like Christmas trees almost.
Bikes are also common and they usually have baskets. No motorcycles are allowed. I understand they were banned a while ago, but I'm not exactly sure what the reason was, although I have heard different theories. You will often see people using electric bikes though.
Nice flowers.
This was an an interesting little road we found just off of the main road. We were walking along.
I did get permission to take this man's picture. He was hard at work sewing and only stopped when I took the picture. There were a few spaces like this right in a row.
New year decorations mixed with a white Santa?
Candid shot walking around.
Cool looking sculpture.
I captured this shot of a little Chinese child. I've often seen the small children dressed with lots of padding--so incredibly cute!
Its not a famous landmark, just a cool one.
This picture was taken from a walkway while crossing above the road. I went to look for some rubbing alcohol at a pharmacy. It took me about 10 minutes of playing charades to help the employees figure out what I needed. There are a lot of really helpful, nice Chinese people here.
By this time we had probably walked about five hours, and we were not sure where we were. But I saw this bridge and the lights looked beautiful.
We wandered through the streets not exactly sure where we were and getting tired at this point. Greg was definitely more energetic than I was, so we ventured on.
More pretty light.
We stopped at McDonalds for dinner. It's okay, because it's in
China, which makes it special. Not the same experience in the
U.S., where its just another fast food restaurant.
In the following video you will get a little glimpse of an area we were walking through and how ridiculously crowded it was. We were at a standstill as we walked because of the congestion.
So, approximately six hours later, and after I persuaded Greg, he and I were able to flag down a cab to take us home. Whew! It was fun, but I was just so happy to be off my feet.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Parker's short animated film of Chinese New Year
This is a short film that Parker did for a school assignment. It took a little over fifty drawings. I promised my mother I would post it.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
The Chinese Costco
Chinese Costco
There is a place that many people here liken to Costco back home. This place is called Metro. You can find lots of things here, but very few things will be the same as the Costco in the US. Some of the popular items here in China include rice cookers, foot massagers (you can find these everywhere), rice. Some things you won't find too much... include cereal, sour cream, food samples , to name a few. I thought I would take a few pictures and post them for you so you can be really happy about having a place that is dedicated to the American public's taste.
UPDATE January 6, 2014: They now do carry sour cream,cheese, butter and more variety of cereals--check the imports isle. Also, in the bread area, in a freezer I recently saw croissant dough. In the meat area you will also find imported meats, but be prepared to pay. If you are a foreigner make sure to take your passport the first time you visit so you can sign up for a membership card.
These chips look familiar, but you need to be careful or you might take home some unusual flavored chip-- and sometimes that is not a good thing. Trust me, I know.
You don't need to ask if the fish are fresh here.
Its definitely fresh.
These eggs are NOT refrigerated, in fact no eggs in Metro are refrigerated. I need to google why some eggs are refrigerated and others are not. I still haven't purchased non-refrigerated eggs.
They actually offer quite a variety of brands AND type of egg.
You can't really tell in this picture, but these are not eggs as we know them. These are little birds in the shape of eggs with their feathers still intact. I guess it's right before they are supposed to hatch? I am unable to describe them very well, because once again, I could not stomach a close inspection.
The produce in China is always full of variety and generally looks lovely.
This is my friend Jenny, who has been really sweet helping my acclimate to a new country.
Let's see... salt, pepper, parsley
. . .and, oh yes, black fungus.
Lots of black fungus. I know it's a mushroom, but fungus just sounds wrong when it is in a food aisle.
Gratuitous photo of a building near Gold Arch. I like the architecture here in Guangzhou, although not always beautiful, they are often interesting, especially for a big city.
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Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Pet Market with Jenny and Ron
Whilst living in Gold Arch (before we moved to our house), I found myself wandering around the complex completely lost and very relieved to see a foreigner (that's what we are called here). Luckily he spoke English and was able to correctly direct me to the little grocery store about 20 feet away. His name was Trey and it is through him that I met his wife and my friend, Jenny. Jenny introduced me to Ron (another fellow American) and they both were kind enough to invite me on some of their trips about town. The following pictures are of our trip to the Pet Market to get some dog food. So contrary to popular reports, you can have a pet here. It might be a little more work here in China, but it is definitely possible and not uncommon.
Cute little rabbits, but honestly, I stayed far away because I was afraid of contracting any weird diseases.
This was a table full of little dog coats.
Thirsty little cat.
These fish are not for eating... I think.
I saw all these brass trinkets at an antique shop in the pet market. This picture shows only a small sampling of what they had there.
Me, posing. I'm going to get more creative with my poses.
Lots of gourds. I like to say the word "gourd." Gourd, gourd, gourd : )
Inside one of the little pet shops.
There are lots of little secret rooms that have long staircases just where you would never expect a door to be.
We then drove to a mall.
Got ribbon?
This is not your typical mall in the US. Here in China, some malls have themes and this one you can find store after store with things like erasers, rubber bracelets, phone cases, paper hats, tiny purses, just "junk" really, unless you need the junk for a party, then it's a find. It can be overwhelming. And if I had to give it a theme, it might be the trinket mall.
Lots of cheesy (or at least what I might consider cheesy) products for sale. Need a plastic clock? Go next door to the "clock shop."
I cannot name this church, it just looked cool nested among all the typical structures. If I could speak Chinese, I might have asked.
I have seen and been told that basically everyone in the city is very serious about having three meals a day. At lunch time the restaurants fill up and people stop to eat their noodles or lunches. Never miss a meal.
There are tons of little stores completely filled with foods like these dry squids. Tons. And I have no idea how they use them, but I can tell they are popular.
I have seen a few people carrying the baskets hanging from a stick that is being carried across the shoulders, but not really very often. Bikes are definitely used everywhere to carry all kinds of goods and other people even.
I stopped at this cart because i was soooo hungry. See the hole in the cart? They would take the stretched out dough and slap it on the inside of that hole and it would stick to the curved wall. It was kind of a dome shape on the inside. After a few minutes, when it was done, they would peel it away and then, wallah! You get a nice, warm, toasted piece of bread. I figured if there were any germs on there, they were toasted away, so I thought it would be fairly safe to eat.
Yep, warm, toasty, and yummy. And no, I did not get sick and haven't been sick (knock on wood--which I am doing right this very moment).
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Cute little rabbits, but honestly, I stayed far away because I was afraid of contracting any weird diseases.
This was a table full of little dog coats.
Thirsty little cat.
These fish are not for eating... I think.
I saw all these brass trinkets at an antique shop in the pet market. This picture shows only a small sampling of what they had there.
Me, posing. I'm going to get more creative with my poses.
Lots of gourds. I like to say the word "gourd." Gourd, gourd, gourd : )
Inside one of the little pet shops.
There are lots of little secret rooms that have long staircases just where you would never expect a door to be.
We then drove to a mall.
Got ribbon?
This is not your typical mall in the US. Here in China, some malls have themes and this one you can find store after store with things like erasers, rubber bracelets, phone cases, paper hats, tiny purses, just "junk" really, unless you need the junk for a party, then it's a find. It can be overwhelming. And if I had to give it a theme, it might be the trinket mall.
Lots of cheesy (or at least what I might consider cheesy) products for sale. Need a plastic clock? Go next door to the "clock shop."
I cannot name this church, it just looked cool nested among all the typical structures. If I could speak Chinese, I might have asked.
I have seen and been told that basically everyone in the city is very serious about having three meals a day. At lunch time the restaurants fill up and people stop to eat their noodles or lunches. Never miss a meal.
There are tons of little stores completely filled with foods like these dry squids. Tons. And I have no idea how they use them, but I can tell they are popular.
I have seen a few people carrying the baskets hanging from a stick that is being carried across the shoulders, but not really very often. Bikes are definitely used everywhere to carry all kinds of goods and other people even.
I stopped at this cart because i was soooo hungry. See the hole in the cart? They would take the stretched out dough and slap it on the inside of that hole and it would stick to the curved wall. It was kind of a dome shape on the inside. After a few minutes, when it was done, they would peel it away and then, wallah! You get a nice, warm, toasted piece of bread. I figured if there were any germs on there, they were toasted away, so I thought it would be fairly safe to eat.
Yep, warm, toasty, and yummy. And no, I did not get sick and haven't been sick (knock on wood--which I am doing right this very moment).
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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